Young Americans Essay Contest

Being a Young American means not only possessing leadership skills, honesty, integrity, and intelligence, but also using those qualities to benefit those around you. This is part of the reason I believe I was chosen as a Young American. In addition to my academic and personal achievements, I have taken it upon myself to be an active member of the school, as well as the community at large, through my leadership positions in school clubs and hours of community service. Some of the most meaningful experiences I have had in my high school career were not when I excelled personally, but when I was able to contribute to others’ success. One experience in particular that comes to mind involves my time job shadowing at the Selinsgrove Area Intermediate School and working with the students on STEM activities. I worked with students on activities such as Scratch programming and origami to introduce STEM concepts like algorithms. The valuable experience taught me how much I enjoy leading young people and teaching others about my passions. Seeing the students find a new interest or gain confidence in themselves and their abilities was very rewarding.

Award Winning Essay by McKenna Parker

During my time at the University of Pennsylvania I hope to continue developing my leadership skills and serving both the Philadelphia and Selinsgrove communities through my involvement in organizations that support these endeavors. One specific goal I want to achieve by 2028 is increasing access to STEM education in Philadelphia and Selinsgrove. At Penn, I plan to join the Access Engineering club, which is a year-round, weekend program to teach Philadelphia youth about various engineering disciplines and get them interested in learning more about the profession. Since 2014, the club has worked with over 250 students. The other piece of my goal involves bringing additional opportunities in STEM education to Selinsgrove. I hope to do this by creating a program similar to Access Engineering for local intermediate and middle school students for multiple weeks in the summer. I plan to achieve this through collaboration with the district administration and the implementation of lessons similar to those of Penn’s Access Engineering program. My plan would be to spend one or two days on each of the different engineering fields so all students might find something that interests them and develop a desire to continue learning more about it on their own.

Another goal I hope to achieve by 2028 is obtaining a master’s degree in Computer Graphics and Game Technology (CGGT). I plan to achieve this goal by declaring a Digital Media Design (DMD) major for my undergraduate degree, then sub-matriculating to UPenn’s CGGT program. The program is specifically designed for students who want to take on multidisciplinary roles within the industry, as I do, so it provides core areas that allow for specialization. I am interested in economics and the business aspects of video game production so I plan to specialize in Business and Entrepreneurship within the CGGT program. Although my second goal would not directly impact a specific community, once I join the industry I hope to bring diverse stories to light. Representation is often lacking in the media industry, or media representing diverse groups doesn’t perform as well due to its smaller audience size; however, I believe diverse representation in games would positively impact people of all communities. By studying this aspect of the gaming industry, I hope to achieve my goal to bring diverse representation to the media and game industry and provide all people with a sense of belonging.